New Challenges and Directions for Technology Innovation in China: A Review of the 14th Five-Year Plan and an Outlook on the 15th Five-Year Plan

This paper reviews the main achievements of China’s science and technology (S&T) development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) and connects them to the priorities set out in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). Drawing on official Chinese statistics, reports from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and peer-reviewed research, the paper traces a steady rise in research-and-development (R&D) intensity, a first-time entry into the global top ten on innovation rankings, and substantial progress in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies, green energy, biotechnology, aerospace, nuclear fusion, and sixth-generation (6G) telecommunications. It then examines how the 15th Plan translates these gains into a new agenda organized around self-reliance, original innovation, and what Chinese policymakers describe as “new quality productive forces”. The paper also identifies persistent challenges, especially in advanced-node chip manufacturing, demographic and fiscal pressure on R&D, and mounting technology-related trade friction, that will shape the trajectory of innovation in China during the coming five years.